The Idle Digest #4
Idle Cartulary's Digest for February 2025
February was a pretty high-octane month for me, beginning with me running my Sharky Kickstarter, but also because after my January Introductory Extravaganza, I have a backlog of modules that were released (or that I discovered) over the December/January period that I urgently needed to review, else you’d miss out, and then Zine Month coming on with a hell of a lot of bangers. We’ve also had a surprising (to me, at least) number of Zungeons being submitted to the Zungeon Jam. Coming into March, I’m hoping for a breather — fingers crossed.
Lonely Play
In December, on Playful Void, I wrote about:
I wrote five Bathtub Reviews:
Owe My Soul to the Company Store is a referee-breaking social module for Mothership that is an early contender for the most interesting module of the year
The Curious Creeps in Crimson Creek is a gorgeous, dense module with a quirky, folk-horror vibe that reminded me a lot of Over the Garden Wall.
Titans of the Verdant Maw is another gorgeous module, this one bringing a Sword and Planet twist to Old School Essentials. This one isn’t for me, but I’m going to keep a close eye on the creator’s further output, because there’s a huge amount of potential revealed in this.
Planet Vesta is a geographically-focused, system agnostic sci fi module, which reveals a strong love for astronomy, but really needs to bring it harder with the characterisation and the explosive politics inherent to the setting.
The Absolute Wurst is a pamphlet weird west module that manages to pack a huge punch in its’ tiny space, although I think it deserved a higher page count. It’s still got a few days left in its’ campaign!
Sooty Beards is a city supplement (allegedly for both B/X and Troika!, but it feels Troika in spirit), that I’m certain a lot of people will love, and really fills the massive void left by the city of Troika in the game of Troika, if you’re willing to take it with a dwarven twist.
And I reviewed a few zungeons:
The Desecration is an interesting, ethical conundrum of a zungeon that you should definitely slip into your campaign.
Bloodhoney is probably the most polished zungeon I’ve seen, and is a no-brainer if your table is into horror.
Tavurchower is an absolutely stellar mad wizard’s tower zungeon written on a giant piece of graph paper.
Taken By The Blood Men is an interesting zungeon with some really fun and inventive theming, where the reason you’re entering the dungeon will likely change your entire perspective on how you treat the people there.
And I wrote about Not-Boring Elementals for the Elements Blog Bandwagon!
In general, the Zungeon Jam is going gangbusters, with a new zungeon being published every few days. Check out all the submissions here, because so many of them are good, and simply haven’t requested my review.
Pickpocketing
In other news, February was a huge month for things that got me all excited:
The Problems Department talks about how to use problems in TTRPGs to drive a perpetual fun machine!
I missed it, but Symbolic City published this guide to running modules solo as if you’re the referee, rather than as if you’re the player, kind of? It seems like exactly what I want.
Derek wrote about how to design challenges using Hard and Soft Locks
Amanda P wrote about how to think about theme in designing modules and adventures.
Joey tore down the Bloggies, and in the process pointed out some really cool stuff I missed last year.
Ms. Screwhead wrote about how to describe things well in TTRPGs.
I am not sure I agree with anything the Narrativist says in Towards a Better Understanding of Consequences in TTRPGs, but it’s still worth reading.
Gamespotting
This month, of course, is Zine Month, and with four days left in February you have a few days to back these gems:
Roguelike Megadungeon is a massive dungeon generator by some really compelling creators.
The White Horse of Lowvale is by Tania Herrera, one of the authors to look out for from 2024! I couldn’t be more excited for this one, just based on her previous work.
Emergence is a stellar looking evolution-themed funnel for Mothership!
Castle of the Veiled Queen is the first module by the Corn Groń crew, which is an intriguing and exciting direction for them to go in — hopefully they won’t go as heavy on the randomisation like they did in Beyond Corn Groń.
Strange Beorn is a cool looking, celtic themed hill fort for Mork Borg.
When Dusk Falls is a points of light setting for Shadowdark. I’m just super interested in the burgeoning Shadowdark community and the modules that are coming out of it.
Wraithborn is a haunted setting for Mork Borg, which feels a little like Ghostwalk but with impeccable vibes.
Mana Meltdown is the next module from the creator of Wind Wraith, which is hot on my list of things to review in the next few months.
For my wallets’ sake, things will slow down in April, eh?
Finally, Sharky continues to be available to late backers, at least until I get to fulfilment, so if you missed it (or held off because you weren’t sure what you’d be spending during Zine Month), jump over now!
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Idle Cartulary
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